Rehnqvist: I himmelen (In Heaven's Hall)

This CD takes the listener on an exciting trip through the repertoire created during the "Swedish choir miracle". Great modernists like Lidholm and Sven-David Sandström are of course represented and they are take turns with more relaxed or folk-orientated works by Malmberg, Larsson, Parkman and others. One important novelty is Karin Rehnqvist's masterly "Till ängeln med brinnande händer" for choir, soloists and oboe. Tradition and modernity also meet in Jan Sandström’s ”Biegga luohte” and Karin Rehnqvist’s ”I himmelen”. It's a CD that everyone can enjoy.

During the autumn of 2011, the Swedish Chamber Choir has won both the European Grand Prix at the prestigious Tolosa festival in Spain and EBU’s choir competition “Let the Peoples Sing”. As participants in élite competitions, it has thus become Sweden’s most successful choir hitherto.

The choir featured on this disc, Allmänna Sången, is a student choir with a history going back for more than 175 years. A collaboration with Swedish jazz pianist Anders Widmark lends unusual colours to settings of ancient folk chorales (I Himmelen) and traditional harvest songs (Slåttervisa), as well as to classics from the treasure of Swedish choral music such as Stenhammar’s Three Choral Songs and Alfvén’s Evening (‘Aftonen’).